One of the more interesting sides of Jem's history, Super Stars dolls were basically Jem baggie dolls, not put out by Hasbro but some company called "Star," who somehow or another acquired what appear to be Hasbro's factory seconds, as they usually have sloppy paint or other imperfections. I have categorized the Super Stars dolls into a few different sections; those with all Jem (or Maxie) parts and (usually) all Jem fashions, those with Jem bodies and fashions, but with generic heads, Rio heads with generic/cheap bodies and fashions, and lastly, those with "Maxie" heads & generic/cheap bodies & fashions. Some Jem fans say they saw these dolls in stores (like Sears) at the same time as Jem dolls, and they've managed to pop up in dollar stores throughout the 00's, though usually these are the less desirable "Rob"/fake body dolls. Jem head/body/fashion combinations: These are typically short" body Jem dolls, wearing some combination of the first year Aja, Kimber, Shana or Misfits fashion parts. The odd one came with a belt or bracelets or both, so far I have not seen any with shoes. Sometimes they'd really push it and put out a Shana head on a white body, or a male head on a female body, hands on the wrong arm, etc. A few of these dolls came in non-Jem clothing; particularly popular are Super Stars socks -silver threaded white socks, I'm told the same ones were sold with LJN's Michael Jackson doll. Harder to find are the long white spandex socks with pink and black stripes at the top, Shana's jacket with a velcro closure, a gold lame pair of pants, and a pink short-sleeved top. The heads include all first year dolls except Jem/Jerrica, a darker-haired (possibly Glitter n' Gold) Rio, and so far I have seen one head that looked like 2nd Edition Aja. I can't imagine many reasons why someone would "fake" a super star, as they are not particularly rare or sought after -with the exception of "Craig Phillips"- but the fact remains that, as the packages are simply cardboard stapled over a plastic bag, these dolls would be extremely easy to fake, if someone wished to. Determining if you have a Super Stars doll, without packaging is also not an exact science, but generally if you have a doll with noticeable paint or hair rooting flaws, white paint on Aja's eyemake-up in place of pink, or if it's wearing superstars socks and a combination of the 1st year doll fashions, this is a pretty good hint. So far all the Super Stars dolls I know of have been of the "short" body type with the knobby wrists, but this is far from a determining feature, as these dolls managed to make it into many legitimate Hasbro-made Canadian and US Jem doll boxes, and they are rule, not the exception for a European-market doll. Still not entirely explained in Jem fandom is the presence of "Craig Phillips" and/or the Rob (Maxie's boyfriend for 1988) head mold. For some reason, many Rob mold heads were sold along with the rest of the "all Jem" Super Stars dolls - always on a female body, usually with the short blonde hairstyle Rob was sold with, but also rarely there is the long purple-haired Rob-mold doll, colloquially referred to as "Craig Phillips", for the simple reason that Craig is the character this doll would most resemble on the Jem cartoon. It is apparent that this mold was in existence during Jem's development and was likely considered for the line, quite possibly as an earlier or later draft of Rio, so this is why I'm including the "Rob" headed Jems in this section, not in the Maxie section below. Jem bodies and fashions, with generic heads: It wasn't until recently (2005 or so), that I spotted a Super Star with a non-Jem head on a Jem body. Having never seen one in person there's not much I can tell you about them except that I don't know where this mystery head has it's origins, it is not a mold familiar to me. Rio heads with generic bodies and fashions; These dolls seem to have appeared later in the Super Stars time line, suggesting that perhaps Star had run out of the female bodies to pair with the Rio heads - though of course it's also entirely possible that someone at Star realized that, gosh darn it, Rio is a male sculpt, he needs a male body to be salable, so they found the cheapest, thinnest male body they could to use. The low quality of these bodies and fashions cannot be overemphasized. For example, one Rio head was found with a tiny baby doll torso in place of a neck. And a few have been spotted wearing a tube top that looks suspiciously like an infant's sock with arm holes cut out. Needless to say, these dolls aren't terribly sought after today. But they did come with boots! Maxie heads with generic bodies and fashions: Included here simply for the tenuous connection that Rob has with the Jem line, and that they were still being packaged as "Super Stars" - despite the fact that Maxie's looks wouldn't exactly convey that she had much to do with show business. These follow the same basic premise of Hasbro's factory seconds being cobbled together on hollow plastic bodies with cheap fashions. |
| Jem head/body/fashion combinations I know of, so far (feel free to submit
sightings or photos of your own).
Aja, (usually with white eye make up) wearing -Aja's shirt, skirt and tights. -Aja's shirt, skirt, belt and white spandex thigh highs with black and pink stripes at the tops. -Aja's shirt, skirt, Roxy's pants & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Aja's shirt, Kimber's pants, & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Aja's 2nd ed hair bow (do not know if the head was a 2nd ed or had earrings, but it did have pink make up), unknown pink top, Kimber's pants & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Aja's shirt, Stormer's tights and skirt, 2 misfit bracelets -Aja's shirt, Stormer's tights and skirt. (thanks to Diva Jezebel for the pic!) -Pizzazz's dress, belt, white spandex thigh highs with black and pink stripes at the tops. -Roxy's shirt, pants, belt, & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. (thanks to Diva Jezebel for the pic!) Kimber, wearing -Aja's shirt, skirt and tights (thanks to Diva Jezebel for the pic!) -Aja's shirt, skirt and Stormer's tights. (Thanks to MrPanda for this photo!) -Aja's shirt, Kimber's pants and super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. (thanks to Diva Jezebel for the pic!) -Aja's shirt, Stormer's tights and skirt. (thanks to Diva Jezebel for the pic!) -Kimber's jacket, pants and fishnet socks (thanks to Diva Jezebel for the pic!) -Pizzazz's Dress and belt, Aja's tights Pizzazz wearing -Aja's shirt, Roxy's pants, & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Aja's shirt, Stormer's skirt and tights, one Misfit bracelet -Stormer's shirt, skirt, tights and two bracelets. Roxy, wearing -Aja's top, Kimber's pants and super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. (hair has thick bangs) -Aja's top, Stormer's skirt and tights -Roxy's shirt, belt (no stickers) and pants -Roxy's shirt, Aja's skirt, belt and tights. -Stormer's top, skirt and tights Shana head (on proper body) wearing -Shana's hair bow, dress, jacket and white spandex thigh highs with black and pink stripes at the tops. (Thanks Zomboy for the photo!) -Shana, nude. Torsos have some discolouration. Appear to not have widow's peaks. (Thanks to Janice for this photo) Shana head (on Caucasian body) wearing -Shana, with her hair bow, Aja's top, skirt and tights. (Thanks to Janice for this photo) -Shana's hair bow, Aja's top, Kimber's pants, & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Shana's hair bow, Aja's top, Roxy's pants, & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Shana's hair bow, dress and Aja's tights. -Shana's hair bow, strange dress and tights- "Her dress appears to be unique (it's certainly not Jem, but is rather 80's-ish), but her panty hose are what's puzzling. They look identical to a pair of 1st Ed. Jem's panty hose without the sparkly threads (in the "wafer" style pattern). Hum..." thanks to Diva Jezebel for the info and pic! -Shana, wearing her jacket (has velcro sewn in to keep it closed!), unknown gold pants & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. (Thanks to Janice for this photo) Stormer, wearing -Aja's shirt, Kimber's pants & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Stormer's top, tights, skirt and 2 Misfit bracelets (thanks to Diva Jezebel for the pic!) -Stormer's top, tights, skirt. Rio (on female body) wearing -Aja's top, Kimber's pants, & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Aja's shirt, Stormer's skirt & tights. Hair cut is normal for the most part, but is asymmetrical across the back (like Kimber's) thanks to Diva Jezebel for the info and pic! -Pizzazz's dress, belt and white spandex thigh highs with black and pink stripes at the tops. (Thanks to MrPanda for this photo!) -Shana's jacket (looks like it may have velcro in the front), unknown gold pants & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Stormer's top (not sure of what else) Rio (on female body, with darker hair, possibly Glitter N' Gold Rio?) wearing -Aja's top, Kimber's pants, & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Aja's top, skirt and Stormer's tights (Thanks to MrPanda for this photo!) "Craig Phillips" (Rob doll with blue eyebrows, long purple hair, female Jem body), wearing: -Aja's shirt, skirt and tights -Aja's shirt, skirt, belt and tights -Pizzazz's dress, belt and two Pizzazz socks. -Stormer's shirt, skirt, tights and bracelets. Rob head on female Jem body (See most of these dolls all in one photo here, thanks to Mr. Panda!) wearing; -Aja's shirt, skirt and tights -Aja's shirt, skirt and white spandex thigh highs with black and pink stripes at the tops. -Aja's top, Kimber's pants and super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Aja's top, Roxy's pants and super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. -Aja's top, Stormer's skirt and tights -Pizzazz's dress, belt, white spandex thigh highs with black and pink stripes at the tops. -Stormer's top, skirt, tights and bracelets. -Unknown pink top, Kimber's pants and super stars (Michael Jackson) socks. Jem bodies and fashions, with generic heads; It wasn't until recently (2005 or so), that I spotted a Super Star with a non-Jem head on a Jem body. Having never seen one in person there's not much I can tell you about them except that I don't know where this mystery head has it's origins, it is not a mold familiar to me. (See most of these dolls all in one photo here, thanks to Mr. Panda!) -Aja's top, tights and skirt, doll has lavender hair and a small pink hair decoration (thanks to Janice for this photo) -Aja's top, tights and skirt, doll has blonde hair. -Aja's top, tights and skirt, doll has brown hair. -Aja's top, Kimber's pants, & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks, doll has blonde hair. -Aja's top, Roxy's pants & super stars (Michael Jackson) socks, doll has brown hair. -Aja's top, Stormer's skirt and tights. (hair is either lavender or blonde, too hard to tell) -Shana's dress, with white spandex thigh highs with black and pink stripes at the tops (thanks to Janice for this photo) -Stormer's top, skirt and tights, doll has lavender hair. Rio heads with generic bodies and fashions -Regular Purple-haired Rio, hair can vary in length. Comes in tank top (can be woolen or not, usually white or yellow), colourful tights and cheap plastic boots. Have also seen one of these Rio's wearing baby doll-scaled pajamas (!) -Darker-haired Rio, possibly a Glitter 'N Gold Rio head, though skin tone is somewhere between a typical Rio tan and the pale Caucasian GG Rio. He also comes in the generic tank top/tights boots combination fashion. Maxie heads with generic bodies and fashions Rob head on cheap hollow body, hair & make up application is typically not as high quality as those that came on the Jem bodies, usually wearing a generic outfit consisting of: knitted white or yellow tank top and tight pants (various colours) with boots (various colours) Green or Brown eyes. Can have blue eyebrows. (Thanks to Janice for this photo!) -Rob head (repainted, with brown eyes) on cheap plastic male body. Bleached shorter hair. -Rob Head, (repainted, but nicer). Bleached shorter hair.* -Rob Head (repainted) pink tinted hair!* -Maxie on hollow body, generic outfits |
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Probably the most common "Super Stars" Doll- Aja. She is wearing a typical "Super Stars" outfit of 1st Ed. Aja's shirt, 1st Ed. Kimber's pants and the small silver (Michael Jackson) socks. |
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Note the eye make-up colour difference between this Super Stars Aja and a regular First Edition Aja. Super Stars Aja has white eye shadow, First Edition (and Second Edition, actually!) have pink eye shadow. |
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Silver socks; A lot of Super Stars dolls seem to come with these- they look a little like Flash N' Sizzle Jem hose material, but they are socks. These are apparently factory leftovers from the LJN Michael Jackson doll as the same socks are found on him. Thanks to Tricia for this information! |
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Superstar Roxy (mine anyway): Her lip paint is quite a bit "smaller" looking than normal. Her eyebrow is a magenta colour, not red, and the magenta colour is also used on the flame outline on her eye (royal purple is used on the regular dolls). The flame itself (and the blush/stripes on face) is a fluorescent green, not yellow. The white paint on her scalp is also applied sloppily (notice her forehead). |
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This is my Maxie doll Super Stars doll. The back of the head says 1987 Hasbro. Her body is a generic cheap barbie-type body, her outfit and boots are also cheap and crappy. Her hair is light brown. This may be some sort of Maxie variation... I don't really know! Her hair has been stitched on very badly... |  |
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This Rob, as well as the Maxie above was bought in Canada. Again, it's a generic hollow body (Male this time) wearing generic clothing. (I bought this doll in the package, he's been taken out for scans.) His hair is much lighter and shorter (sewn on sloppier) than the hair that came on Rob. His eyes are also brown, not green & his blush is much more pronounced. There are no Hasbro (or other) markings on the back of his head. | 
"Look into my eyes!" |
| Credits:
All Rio and Rob photos & info, except for (crazy eyes) Rob courtesy of <3Molly, as well as the Shana pic. Thanks to Matt T. for helping me compile the list of Super Stars dolls/outfits. |
